Chiropractic Care and Sciatic Nerve Pain

Chiropractic Care and Sciatic Nerve Pain

Chiropractic care offers a conservative, noninvasive, and drugless form of medical care. In fact, it is generally accepted that this kind of care should be done before any invasive procedure is pursued such as back surgery. Chiropractic care has been well documented in being successful for conservative medical attention.

Sciatic pain is right up a chiropractor's alley. Dr. Hinz at Cool Springs Chiropractic is known for treating patients with back problems. He routinely diagnoses and successfully treats back and leg pain. Whether you have a pinched nerve, muscle, ligament or tendon ailments that may be causing your pain, Dr. Hinz will take the proper time to examine your back and leg pain to determine the exact source of your sciatic pain. Rather than masking your pain with over the counter and prescription drug medications, call Cool Springs Chiropractic today! Dr. Hinz will treat your sciatic nerve pain at the source!

Chiropractic and Sciatic Nerve Pain

Chiropractic and sciatica seem to go hand in hand these days, as many patients come to Cool Springs Chiropractic with similar issues. Since sciatica is an ailment of the back and chiropractic care seeks to better align the spine, it only seems natural that sciatic-type pain should be treated with chiropractic adjustments.

Sciatica is a term used to describe impingement of the sciatic nerve (which has five different roots in the spine of your lower back), that causes pain or other nerve-related symptoms that may radiate down part of or along the entire pathway of the nerve. The sciatic nerve runs from your lower back through your hips, down the back of your leg and into your calf muscle, ending in your foot. There is a left sciatic nerve as well as a right. Spinal disc herniation is a common cause of sciatica as is pregnancy, while other causes are more likely muscular-related.

It is important to understand that sciatica is not an actual diagnosis but rather an underlying symptom of your problem. A chiropractor will start by assessing the known five culprits (guilty parties) of the symptom sciatica. These five culprits include:

• Herniated disc problems
• Spinal stenosis (narrowing)
• Facet joint problems
• Nerve entrapment
• Presence of tumors, infection or metabolic complications

It is necessary for a Dr. Hinz to determine if your pain is caused by a herniated or ruptured disc. This condition in medical terms is known as sciatic neuritis. Neuritis means the nervous system is involved (neuro = nerves and itis = inflammation). The diagnosis (evaluation) and treatment program will be for "disc injury".

If you don't have neuritis, then Dr. Hinz will check for spinal stenosis. Spinal stenosis is another common cause of sciatica that is a narrowing of the spinal column that can generate inflammation of nerves. If this is your diagnosis for your leg pain, then you will be treated specifically for that.

So far, you don't have a herniated disc or spinal stenosis so the chiropractor will look for lumbar facet symptoms. Your facet joints come in pairs at the back of each spinal vertebrae. These facet joints link the vertebrae above to the one below to form a functioning joint that allows for movement of the spine. This is not so different from knee joints only you have many of them up and down your spine between each of your spinal bones. This allows you to slightly bend your spinal column up, down and sideways as well as twist. Think of all the movements your spinal column can do when you work a hula-hoop. It's amazing. So facet joint syndrome is referring to pain that occurs in your facet joints. These joints are filled with synovial fluid just like your spinal discs. Your discs act as cushions between your vertebra and the facet joint allows your vertebra to move in a number of different directions. If this is your problem, the chiropractor has a therapy that works on this particular problem.

Don't have any of the above? Dr. Hinz can look for nerve entrapment syndrome. What this is about is mechanical imbalances in the spine and hip with damaged discs (but not herniated) with facet joint movement restrictions. This can lead to muscular tightness that may lead to nerve entrapment of the sciatic nerve. The muscles involved here are the piriformis muscles. Chiropractors will perform muscles therapies on these muscles to loosen them and restore balance to your spinal joints and release pressure on the sciatic nerve.

If none of the above is diagnosed, Dr. Hinz may refer you to another doctor to determine if you have any tumors, infections or metabolic problems.

Treatment of Sciatica

The number of treatments you require will depend on the severity of your condition and your response to treatment. Many sciatic complaints disappear after only a few weeks of treatment, while others may take months to fully heal. It is highly recommended that you follow Dr. Hinz's professional advice during a course of treatment, as he can best guide you to a full, and effective recovery in an appropriate time frame.

Dr. Hinz's goal is to diagnose and treat you for your specific problem in a conservative way (noninvasively, no surgery). This involves active hands on care to return full motion to the spine by treating disc, joint and muscle problems. Spinal manipulations may include thrusting techniques, non-thrusting techniques, instrument-assisted therapies, trigger point therapy, stretching and resistance techniques, electrical stimulation, ultrasound as well as alignments.

Dr. Hinz at Cool Springs Chiropractic, located in Franklin, TN, wants to help you feel as great as you possibly can. Whether it is through sciatic nerve treatment, nutritional advice, etc., Dr. Hinz is here to help! Contact Cool Springs Chiropractic today!